Why I Subject Myself to the Randomness of Craps

It was Friday night - time to hit the Snoqualmie casino and play some Craps. I bought in for $300 and played passline with $10 odds and $6 on the 6 & 8. The very first shooter 7'd out without hitting any of my numbers -- seems that has been happening to me a lot lately. I'm starting to wonder if I will ever start out ahead right out of the gate. Things picked up though, and at least some numbers started hitting, but the general trend was down. I shot twice and both times I 7'd out before hitting any of my numbers. Finally someone had a decent roll and I managed to get up by about $20 before he 7'd out. I look at being up $20 as pretty good, and sometimes I'll stop right there and take the win, but I just didn't feel like I was done for the night, so I kept going ... until I was down $100.

But I still wasn't done and I wandered around for a while and then found a spot at another table next to the stick where I could quietly play the don't. I started out with a $5 DP and full 3-4-5 odds. I quietly started another losing trend. Shooters would hit points of 10 and then a 4 before they'd 7 out. Then there would be a couple of PSO and I just needed "one More" to get ahead, and the dice would start to pass again. It was the definition of choppy. I passed the dice when it was my turn to shoot and bet with the guy to my left. He only hit one point. I went back to the dark side for the next shooter, and finally things started getting better for me.

As the dice moved to the other half of the table, the guy next to me started saying, "Let the ladies shoot." He was referring to a couple of attractive women at the far end -- I guess hoping one of those Craps superstitions would hold true. The dice finally got to the ladies. I bet against the first one. She had a medium roll, hitting all kinds of numbers, but she rolled a 7 before the point. At this time I was within a few $$ of my $200 buy-in, down $100 for the night. I decided to bet with lady #2 -- just a modest $5 passline with $10 odds. She hit it. She hit the next one. I added place bets on the 6 & 8. She hit some more numbers. I added come bets and started increasing the odds. Almost every time she picked up the dice she would have to hold them while the guy she was with made a late bet or argued with the dealers. This encouraged late betting by others and people's hands were often in the bowl when she finally let loose. The dice bounced off chips. She threw them off the table a couple of times. It seemed like nothing could stop her from hitting numbers.

It took a long while because I had started out with a small bet, but I finally got a little bit ahead for the night, and then started betting more aggressively. The roll finally ended and I set aside enough to guarantee I'd leave with a profit and then moved back to the dark side. Before I finally colored in, the dice came to me again, and I decided to shoot. I was back on the don't and threw a couple of sevens and then a nine. Next roll was another nine. My standard procedure (so that I don't destroy my bankroll while making everyone else money) is to switch to the passline -- in this case $5 + $10 odds. I rolled a ten and, you guessed it, seven for another PSO. All three times I rolled were just about the worst possible outcomes for me.

No - this isn't a story about a huge win - I ended the night up $120 after tips. But it was a win. Sure there had been a few low points in the evening - a few times when I kicked myself for betting too much at the wrong time or not enough at the right time. But I spent several hours at the casino, enjoyed the antics of my fellow gamblers and the dealers. I made several incorrect guesses / choices and one really good one, and I won some money.

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I'm starting to wonder if I will ever start out ahead right out of the gate.

Boy, I hear that! Getting paid early in a session has a huge effect on my psyche. I hate having to dig out of an early hole.

Up $120 on a $300 buy-in sounds like a good night to me.

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enjoyed the antics of my fellow gamblers

At the Potawatomi Casino in Milwaukee a couple days ago a guy I see there regularly had a prop. When the dice came to him, he proclaimed, "Place your bets, boys, the arm is here!" He then pulled a shiny gold sleeve onto his arm, secured at the shoulder with a drawstring. On his non-shooting hand, he had a fingerless glove made of the same material. The crew just smiled -- he's a regular.

The thing was, he passed three times, and turned around what had been a cold table. I'll have to look for one in the gift shop...

Quote: seattledice

I made several incorrect guesses / choices and one really good one, and I won some money.

Ah, that "one really good one". I think those rolls come usually along just after I leave the table. I tend to shoot from the Dark Side, particularly if the Dark Side has been profitable for me.

Do you get any grumbling at the table when you shoot from the don't?

Quote: Calder

Do you get any grumbling at the table when you shoot from the don't?

I'm sure there is grumbling, but nobody has ever been antagonistic toward me, except maybe one time when there were just two of us at opposite ends of the table and the other guy gave me an evil glare after he PSO'd. The funny thing about that was I was not on the DP but betting the DC so neither of us won anything.

My experience is that most people don't even realize I'm shooting from the don't, even if the dealers loudly announce "From the don't, betting he won't!" which only happens about 1/3 of the time. The best reactions are when I hit the point ...

I also avoid shooting unless the don't has been profitable (which often leaves me the only person at the table, so it's shoot or nothing.) I try to judge whether the people next to me will be upset by my betting against them - usually after the dice have been around the table once and they see I lose as often as win, it's not a problem.

I was playing the other day, betting right, when a guy came up and started putting $50 on the don't and laying $300 against any point. The table was choppy and about three players failed to pass. Then he got the dice, established a point, and rolled for a while. Then he passed the dice to ME, and I shot for his point and sevened out. He looked pretty happy and smug about the whole thing, like he was a genius for passing to me, or something. So, I kept the dice and shot for another point. Made it. Then made another one. He was getting angrier and angrier. I made about four points, passed the dice, and the next shooter kept making points as well. He eventually lost it all and left. It was pretty funny, I have to say. I need to play craps more. (I also like the people who come up out of nowhere, put $400 across, and then the seven rolls. WTF?!?)

Quote: Calder

Do you get any grumbling at the table when you shoot from the don't?

I actually had a guy call me a "fucker" when I sevened out shooting from the don't! He did it almost under his breath, though, so the dealers either didn't know or care.

I lost a few rolls in a row after that so I left soon anyway. I'd just never seen anyone react like that before!

Anyway, I'd like to share my experience with craps over the weekend, and this seems to be the thread to do it:

I was playing craps at the Horseshoe in Council Bluffs, IA on Saturday; things were going good, which is unusual for me in craps, and me and a friend decided to play for one last hour late in the night before calling it quits.

Anyway, I bet the don't a few times and won some money before the dice came to me. Because the experience I explained above, I decided to bet the pass.

I'm not going to string the story along too much, but I then had one of the more unusual runs I'd ever experienced: I failed to make the point I set, but instead I must have thrown like a dozen or fifteen or more sixes before sevening out (not in a row, mind you; they were distributed among other rolls). I happened to have $6 on the six, so I sat there and kept making money!

It also happened three or four times where I'd put a come bet, roll a six, use the winnings from my place six that was already there for odds on the come bet and then later roll a six again!

By the time I was done with my run I had made somewhere around $150 and had failed to make even one point!

It was a very cool experience. My friend, unfortunately, didn't have any chips or cash on him to do more than a minimum pass bet with $10 odds, so he just watched me shoot and just rolled his eyes once I sevened out.

I also won some money betting on dogs, which was the whole reason for going, so all in all a fun trip!